62939


Two kids enter a classroom and see a stranger sat at the desk of one of them.
The one whose desk it is starts crying:

> そしてその机といったらまったくこの泣いた子の自分の机だったのです。 **もひとりの子ももう半分泣きかけていました** が、...  
>  For that desk was indeed this crying child's own desk. ??? child was
> already halfway to starting to cry.

I'm confused by もひとり which I can't find in a dictionary. I had two thoughts:

1) Maybe もひとりの子 means 'the other child' but I can't find もひとり in a dictionary.

2) Maybe も is just a conjunction with the previous sentence. Earlier on I saw
が at the start of a sentence, so it wouldn't surprise me. But if it is just
も、ひとりの子 then I would read it as "Also, one child was about to cry", but that's
a weird thing to say. We already know that one child is crying, so it surely
isn't referring to that child. In English you would say "the other child" (of
the original two kids) or "one of the other children" (of the original two
plus the stranger). Maybe the Japanese don't make this distinction because
they think it's obvious.

Is either of my guesses correct?


CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-19T22:54:16.540
62938
2018-11-21T06:17:24.723
7944
question
grammar words
Meaning of もひとり at the start of a sentence


もひとり is a colloquial, contracted pronunciation of もう[一人]{ひとり}. You're right
that もひとりの子 means 'the other child'.

Similar examples:

もう[一]{ひと}つ → もひとつ  
もう[一回]{いっかい} → もっかい  
もう[少]{すこ}し → もすこし


CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-19T23:02:40.627
62939
2018-11-19T23:11:09.223
2018-11-19T23:11:09.223
9831
9831
62938
answer


もひとり is short for もうひとり. Proper way is もうひとり. If you say もうひとり fast, it sounds
like もひとり。 that’s probably why it’s written that way. Or sometimes kids say it
because it’s easier for them. Anyway, in writing, もひとり is incorrect. If you
are speaking both of them would be fine.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-21T06:17:24.723
62965
2018-11-21T06:17:24.723
32003
62938
answer